Isla Grande, Portobelo, Colon PA, Tel: 507-225-6722
A cabin/room at the little Hotel Isla Grande cost $45/night for singles or $60 per couple. In addition to swimming, you can dine, dance and shoot pool in ‘Bar el Coral’, the little island’s version of a night club with neon lights.
You can also check out Isla Grande’s beachfront Bob Marley Bar, decorated with painted blotches of red, green and yellow with a big mural of Marley with his tunes blowing on the breezes; there you can meet Pupy, the owner and Sheriff of Isla Grande.
Email us at The Panama Club
+507-836-6542 / 43 (Panama) | 1-(305)-503-9957 (USA)
In the province of Chiriqui, near the border with Costa Rica, are the highland forests of Volcan Baru National Park. They are home to Panama’s highest peak, an 11,300 foot high extinct volcano. The spectacular scenery in the village of Boquete includes rain forests, coffee farms, a river and some of the friendliest people anywhere.
Ascending nearly 3 and a half kilometers, from tropical torpor to mountain cool in an hour, you will feel exhilarated. At a moment like this it’s important to have plans for good lodging. You will be able to relish the remarkable change in the oxygen levels of the air you’re breathing and treasure being surrounded by beauty. Plan ahead so you can enjoy it.
Panama has a good domestic air network, and the prices are low. You can fly from Panama City to David – a city only about 20 miles from Boquete – for about $70 each way. From David you’d hop a bus or taxi to Boquete, for about $20 or rent a 4X4 for a weekend for less than $200. It is important to know that Panama City’s domestic airport was moved last year, and is now at a former American military airport in the Albrook community, about 25 kilometers away from Tocumen (PTY) Airport. If traffic is bad, it might take an hour to get there…so schedule your flights to give yourself plenty of leeway.
Remember that most room rates do not include the required 10% IPAT-TAX (tourism). It will be added to your total bill at the end of your vacation in Boquete. Ah….one less surprise! That’s a good thing.
Email us at The Panama Club
+507-836-6542 / 43 (Panama) | 1-(305)-503-9957 (USA)
Panama is a paradise for the bird enthusiast. Bird watching in Panama is a truly rewarding experience, with over 960 species of birds found in an area of less than 50,000 square miles that are easily reached, avid and the beginner birders alike will enjoy a unique avian adventure
Many migrating birds spend their winters in Panama and you may see, for example, Rose-breasted Grosbeaks in the same tree with Keel-billed Toucans. In this small, easily accessible country you will find a wide range of habitats from highland cloud forest to lowland rainforest and coastal estuaries. There are actually seven life zones to be discovered in Panama.
Most extended stay lodging for bird watching in Panama is in association with eco-lodges or eco-travel companies. Here are a few of the best, although there will be a few unguided lodging alternatives, in bird rich locations, offered in upcoming extended stay lodging editions.
Canopy Tower
World-wide Tel No.: 507-264-5720 Panama fax: 507.263.2784
US Tel No.: 1-800-930-3397 US fax line: 1-800-854-2597
http://canopytower.com/cont.php mail to: http://thepanamanetwork.com
If awakening to a tropical chorus of motmots, toucans, and fruitcrows doesn’t remind you that you’re at one of Panama’s leading eco resort’s…. finding yourself in a mosquito net covered bed, high in the treetops will; especially with Blue Cotingas and Green Shrike-Vireos, birds normally glimpsed high in the tops of trees, perched right outside your Canopy Tower room.
Canopy Tower’s all inclusive package includes: entrance fee to Soberanía National Park; lodging based on double occupancy and all meals and a complementary tour in the forest with one of our bilingual birding guides. Rates for some short trips into the forest range from $105 to $220 at this moment, and yet Canopy Tower does offer seven night, eight day packages for a little over $2000.
Email us at The Panama Club
+507-836-6542 / 43 (Panama) | 1-(305)-503-9957 (USA)
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) (LSE:IHG) (NYSE:IHG) (ADRs), the world’s largest hotel group by number of rooms, announces the grand opening of the InterContinental Playa Bonita Resort&Spa, the first luxury beach resort in Panama. The 300-room resort is the second InterContinental hotel and the third IHG property in Panama. Owned by Empresas Bern under a license agreement with InterContinental Hotels Group (Nachrichten), the resort is situated on 20 acres of lush rainforest and is located just 20 minutes outside Panama City near the western entrance of the Panama Canal. It is the third alliance between IHG and Empresas Bern, one of Panama’s most prosperous developers. Bern has had long-standing agreements with IHG; and his Miramar InterContinental Panama and the Crowne Plaza Panama properties are both located in Panama City. “This magnificent property is a marvelous complement to IHG’s resorts across the globe,” says Alvaro Diago, Area President of InterContinental Hotels Group Latin America. “Herman Bern’s vision, once again, surpasses everyone’s expectations. This resort is IHG’s first in Central America and is destined to be one of the region’s premier properties.”
At InterContinental Playa Bonita, luxury begins with its spacious guestrooms, which feature magnificent views of the ocean and a casual yet elegant West Indies-inspired decor. Every room is thoughtfully appointed and equipped with luxury bedding, rich wood furnishings, air conditioning, cable television and wireless Internet access. In addition, Playa Bonita’s prime locale, within a self-contained enclave along a one mile stretch of golden beach bordered by natural reserves, provides guests with a tranquil oceanfront resort that is isolated from the outside world; yet, it has convenient access to the rainforest, Panama Canal, Panama City, the historic colonial city of Casco Viejo and Amador Causeway for a truly lavish travel experience.
Designed with the well-seasoned traveler in mind, InterContinental Playa Bonita’s brilliant white Mediterranean-influenced architecture, coupled with sophisticated and imaginative style, surrounds guests with a refreshing sense of peace and relaxation. White day beds scatter the grounds overlooking the Pacific Ocean and hammocks hang between every palm tree lining the beach. A mist pool provides a quiet oasis for adults and Bonita Del Mar, the resort’s 10,000 sq ft holistic spa, is the ultimate escape to cool off from the Panama sun. Additionally, the resort boasts four free-form swimming pools, three restaurants, 12,500 feet of meeting space and a number of outdoor activities.
“Playa Bonita is truly a grand work of art,” continued Alvaro Diago. “Herman Bern set out to deliver the luxury product that this destination has been missing, and I’m proud to say that Playa Bonita is it.”
“This property brings together the best elements of both companies,” adds Bern. “We have always been proud of our involvement with IHG, as their brands lend unparalleled global recognition. There is unlimited potential when two companies like ours are working together to develop a property.”
For more information or to make a reservation, please call 1-800-327-0200 or visit http://www.intercontinental.com .
The InterContinental Playa Bonita participates in Priority Club Rewards, the world’s first and most global hotel loyalty program spanning more than 3,600 hotels in nearly 100 countries. Members earn their choice of points toward free hotel nights or merchandise, or earn frequent flyer miles with more than 40 domestic and international airline partners. Enrollment in Priority Club Rewards is free. Guests enroll online at http://www.priorityclub.com, by calling 1-888-211-9874 or at the front desk of any InterContinental Hotels& Resorts property.
InterContinental Hotels&Resorts continues to grow its presence in the Americas region. In 2005, the company’s flagship hotel, the InterContinental Buckhead, completed its first full year of operations. The InterContinental Merida in Mexico joined the portfolio in 2005 and was quickly followed by the opening of the InterContinental Kansas City at the Plaza in January 2006. This Spring, the InterContinental Harbor Court Baltimore will open. Currently under construction are the InterContinental Boston, scheduled to open in Fall 2006, the InterContinental San Francisco, scheduled to open in late 2007 and the InterContinental Sacramento scheduled to open in mid-2008. Plans are also underway for the new InterContinental Resort&Residences Orlando with construction expected to begin in late 2006 and the property expected to open in early 2009.
IHG has been serving Latin America for 60 years — with hotels situated in nearly every key market in Central and South America. IHG is one of the leading hotel companies in Central and South America.
Note to Editors:
InterContinental Hotels Group PLC of the United Kingdom (LON:IHG, NYSE:IHG (ADRs)) is the world’s largest hotel group by number of rooms. InterContinental Hotels Group owns, manages, leases or franchises, through various subsidiaries, over 3,600 hotels and 537,000 guest rooms in nearly 100 countries and territories around the world. The Group owns a portfolio of well recognised and respected hotel brands including InterContinental(R) Hotels&Resorts, Crowne Plaza(R) Hotels&Resorts, Holiday Inn(R) Hotels and Resorts, Holiday Inn Express(R), Staybridge Suites(R), Candlewood Suites(R) and Hotel Indigo(TM), and also manages the world’s largest hotel loyalty program, Priority Club(R) Rewards.
InterContinental Hotels Group offers information and online reservations for all its hotel brands at http://www.ichotelsgroup.com and information for the Priority Club Rewards program at http://www.priorityclub.com.
For the latest news from InterContinental Hotels Group, visit our online Press Office at http://www.ihgplc.com/media
http://www.finanznachrichten.de/nachrichten-2006-03/artikel-6222810.asp
SOURCE: Don Winner @ Panama-guide.com
If you are interested in doing business in Panama or doing business with Panama you will want to make the right contacts, hire a competent, English speaking lawyer, and have someone on your side who knows local customs and politics. VIP Panama takes pride in connecting its clients to the right luxury living accommodations, the right business arrangements, and the most discrete entertainment when required.
Email us at The Panama Club
+507-836-6542 / 43 (Panama) | 1-(305)-503-9957 (USA)
Canal Expansion (Source) By Jaquetta White: The Port of New Orleans could be a leading beneficiary of the recently approved plan to expand the Panama Canal, the agency’s chief executive said. “Anything that happens that allows bigger, better and faster ships to come through the canal works for us,” said Gary LaGrange, the port’s president and chief executive. Panamanian voters on Sunday approved a referendum to modernize the 92-year-old canal. The project will double the canal’s capacity and allow more vessels, including super-sized container ships, to pass through. The Port of New Orleans has long been in support of the plan because it will open the door for more trade opportunities with Asia. Asian cargo generally is not shipped directly to the Port of New Orleans or other Gulf ports because today’s trans-Pacific cargo ships are too big to fit through the Panama Canal. Asian cargo is commonly shipped to the twin ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles, which combine to create the busiest container port in the country and third-largest in the world. But as trade with Asia has increased, those ports have become congested, leading shippers to search for new routes. Expanding the Panama Canal could provide an alternative entry into the United States, industry experts say. (more)
One place the cargo could go is the Gulf Coast, said Jim Kruse, director of the Center for Ports & Waterways in the Texas Transportation Institute at Texas A&M University.
“It would certainly help Houston and New Orleans,” Kruse said. “The canal is running pretty much at capacity. It should increase trade just because it will increase the number of vessels that can come through.”
Under the plan, a set of new locks will be built along the canal to add a new lane of traffic. The canal will also be dredged to accommodate ships with a 50-foot draft. The canal is now dredged only to 39½ feet. The changes will oblige not only large container ships, but tankers and break-bulk vessels, said Alberto Alemàn Zubieta, who heads the Panama Canal Authority.
“We will take away the restrictions that are posed on the maritime industry today by allowing bigger and deeper vessels to go through the waterway,” Alemn said.
The project is expected to cost $5.2 billion and take eight years to complete. Construction will begin in 2008.
The expansion in Panama places new emphasis on the port’s need to expand its Napoleon Avenue container terminal, LaGrange said. The port has proposed building a terminal on a 60-acre tract adjacent to the Napoleon terminal.
“I think there’s going to be some significant decisions made the next three or four months,” LaGrange said. “It has always been a general discussion before, now we’re getting down to the nitty-gritty.”
If you are interested in doing business in Panama or doing business with Panama you will want to make the right contacts, hire a competent, English speaking lawyer, and have someone on your side who knows local customs and politics. VIP Panama takes pride in connecting its clients to the right luxury living accommodations, the right business arrangements, and the most discrete entertainment when required.
Email us at The Panama Club
+507-836-6542 / 43 (Panama) | 1-(305)-503-9957 (USA)
Introduction
Nestled in Central America, Panama is bordered by Columbia and Costa Rica. It’s not the first place one thinks of when planning a high-end vacation, but Panama does offer a handful of resorts designed to satisfy travelers in search of luxury accommodations.
Instructions
Difficulty: Moderate
Book Luxury Accommodations in Panama
Steps
1
Step One
Call the Instituto Panameño de Turismo toll-free for more information about booking luxuxry accommodations in Panama at (800) 962-1526. You can also book online through their Web site (see Resources).
2
Step Two
Find your own little paradise at the Royal Decameron Beach Resort, Golf and Casino in Playa Blanca. As the name suggests, there are all kinds of sports and activities available. All meals, drinks, gratuities and most amenities are included in the price of the room. Book reservations online (see Resources) or call 011 (+507) 9 932255. (From outside of the United States and Canada, call 00 (+507) 9 932255.)
3
Step Three
Mellow out by booking a room on Panama’s Caribbean coast. Hotels on this coast offer an easygoing Caribbean mood and amenities like snorkeling. Rooms are available for around $120 per night.
4
Step Four
Get away from it all by booking a room at a hotel on Pearl Islands, a secluded archipelago located off the coast of Panama. These islands are home to swank resorts and remote, unspoiled beaches, and offer the opportunity for a truly secluded vacation.
5
Step Five
Book accommodations near Panama City to cool your heels in some of the country’s most upscale hotels. Hotels are available that occupy acres and acres of land near the country’s picturesque rain forests. Amenities include gift shops, beauty services, laundry/valet services, high-speed Internet and spa services. Expect to pay over $300 per night.
Or, we offer a refreshing alternative to finding luxurious accommodations, interesting things to do, and introductions to the right people.
Email us at The Panama Club
+507-836-6542 / 43 (Panama) | 1-(305)-503-9957 (USA)
THERE was a time, back in the mid-70′s, when the tiny island of Contadora was an ”in” place, the kind of trendy tourist mecca that Panama is now desperately eager to recreate. Hollywood stars and international jet-setters — John Wayne and Christian Dior among others — visited. An international treaty was signed there. In 1979, the shah of Iran lived for a few months in a private villa on this small paradise in the Pacific Ocean, some 40 miles off the coast from Panama City.
These days, Panama is looking inland, along the once off-limits Canal Zone, as it makes its bid for foreign tourists. Its latest attraction is the Gamboa Rainforest Resort, a stunning $30 million hotel on the banks of the Chagres River that offers eco-tourism with 24-hour room service, a very 21st-century mix of self-indulgence with a nature-friendly touch.
For a New Year’s holiday, a group of us — two families, with two adults and two children each — set off to try out Panama’s tourist destinations, old and new. After a five-hour flight from Newark International Airport, we arrived late at night in Panama City and by the next afternoon we were on a small plane, taking the 20-minute flight across the Pacific to Contadora.
The island is still largely unspoiled, although in truth, there isn’t much to it. It is all of half a square mile, big enough for several dozen villas (more are being built), a school, a church, a ”supermarket,” several boutiques, a cafe, a disco, a few bed-and-breakfasts and two hotels. Both hotels are perched on the northern end of the island, near the airstrip.
The island’s attractions can’t be explained by what is on it but by what is around it: clear calm turquoise waters that lap up onto smooth white beaches, a combination usually associated with the Caribbean and rarely found along Central America’s Pacific Coast. The Pacific has big tides and on Contadora, low tide is a dramatic sight, tripling the size of beaches and turning rocky shorelines into steep cliffs.
The shallow waters are ideal for young children. Older children will want to wait for high tide to get on one of the Jet Skis available for rent at the hotel beaches. Our best afternoon was spent on a two-masted sailboat hired through Las Perlas Sailing, which is run by a French couple. (They also offer other tours, including a spin on a banana-shaped tube pulled by a Jet Ski for $15 a child).
At a cost of $35 per adult, $20 per child, we set off with a three-member crew who took us to some of the outlying islands in the Las Perlas Archipiélago, our eyes peeled for possible dolphin or even whale sightings. Altogether the archipelago has 220 islands, but only a dozen are occupied. One, San José, was recently depopulated abruptly while the United States began to clean up chemical waste left there during World War II.
The guidebooks told us that the snorkeling would be good, and on our stop near one uninhabited island, we found that to be true. We saw large blue parrotfish and other fishes of various stripes and colors. What we didn’t see were the ”golden hair” jellyfish, which are virtually invisible but can be felt as they brush against your skin, leaving a rash that itches intensely for 10 minutes or so. And we never did see dolphins or whales.
Other excursions are possible — for instance, in a glass-bottomed boat that charges $15 a person per hour, but that we never did try out. Another outing we didn’t try was parasailing. There was also a local fisherman who picked up the enthusiasts among us in a motorized dinghy early one morning, and returned them three hours later with three fish (one caught using a wrench, rather than a lead weight, on the line). Another fisherman promised to pick up a slightly less enthusiastic group at dawn on another day and then failed to show up, leaving us to watch the pelicans rise to meet the sun.
There are several beaches on the island, some of which are most easily reached by boat. But the best is Playa Larga, which stretches out on both sides of the Hotel Contadora and ends in a point of land where pelicans like to roost.
In the old days this 350-room hotel, with its dozen buildings, green lawns, tennis courts, two swimming pools and a nine-hole golf course, was the center of the island’s buzzing social life, and the clue to its international reputation.
But the Hotel Contadora’s glory days are long over, and that is putting it kindly. The main restaurant, where waiters used to stand four deep to serve an elegant clientele, is now open for institutional-type buffet service: the one exception was a varied breakfast that quickly became our favorite meal of the day. Evening entertainment is provided by the hotel staff, which puts on ribald skits in both English and Spanish, and leads the guests in overamplified shouting.
There were other deficiencies — a periodic lack of hot water, sudden flooding, missing toilet seats and most remarkably, over the New Year’s holiday, no telephones except for two public phones — one in the front lobby, beneath the dusty skeleton of a fish, the other behind a door marked ”for staff only.”
The point is that the Hotel Contadora is unapologetically bad, although it must be said parenthetically, it is also cheap: at $150 a night per couple, everything included, which, besides meals and carefully controlled access to beach towels, means ”unlimited national drink” (as it turned out, this was alcohol in gallon jugs and wine in wax cartons, served up in white plastic glasses). The champagne ran out years ago.
Luckily, there is a decent hotel on Contadora, which just opened in September. The Hotel Punta Galeon is owned by one of the two partners in the Hotel Contadora, but the contrast couldn’t be more stark. Unlike its sprawling neighbor, the Punta Galeon, with 48 rooms, is very compact. It was built almost at treetop level on a rocky point of land, with a series of wraparound terraces that provide various stunning sea views.
THE rooms are small, simple and whitewashed, with built-in beds and bedside tables and little balconies attached. The bathrooms (showers only) are attractive and clean, and the water takes only minutes (as opposed to days) to warm up. And the telephones work.
Still, this is a hotel best suited to adults: there are good places to read, and not many to run around. The swimming pool is right next to the outdoor bar and restaurant, and thus not too tolerant of shouting and splashing. (At the Contadora, the opposite is true: no matter how loud your children, they will not be heard over the hard-core Caribbean rock ‘n’ roll played over the loudspeakers.)
The two restaurants at the Punta Galeon are à la carte, one outside for lunch, and one indoors and open only in the evenings. A lunch costs about $20 (for sandwiches, salads, chicken-in-the-basket sort of fare), while dinner, which could include sea bass grilled, fried or, more colorfully, ”run over by flour and eggs” as well as lobster and shrimp, could run as high as $50 to $60 a head, including wine.
The best restaurant on the island lies between the two hotels, up a slight hill. Called Gerald’s, it has good fish, good meat (amazing for an island) and some German dishes, and the service is swift. A New Year’s Eve meal for a family of four came to $110, including drinks. For dessert, the Café Angelina, on the other side of the airstrip, is recommended for very good Italian ice cream.
The Punta Galeon’s beach is smaller than the Playa Larga and a lot more public. Not only do the planes fly overhead but this is also where the island’s occasional ferry docks, picking up passengers right off the shore.
Ferry is rather a grand word for the Soviet-made hydofoil that makes the two-hour trip from Balboa, the port that marks the Pacific entrance to the Panama Canal. We happened upon this rather incongruous vessel (which began life as part of the Soviet river fleet) almost by accident, after we decided to leave the island a day early. However, since the fare for the boat and the plane are virtually identical — $56 for a round trip, it is advisable to stick to the plane, which is more predictable and quicker.
With our extra day, we were able to spend more time at the Gamboa, which was the exact opposite of the Contadora. In the heart of what was once the Panama Canal Zone, where the River Chagres flows into Lake Gatún, this 110-room hotel provided both total luxury and total quiet. The main building has gigantic three-story windows that look over an exotic landscape that could be out of Africa, with a savannalike park set against a river bounded by tropical forests.
Each one of the hotel’s rooms has the same view, best seen from the hammock that hangs on each of the balconies. Down at the bottom of the garden is a giant attractive pool that is fed by a waterfall and also looks onto the river valley view.
Besides a marina with its waterfront restaurant and its own spa, the resort offers a number of excursions that justify its eco-status. They include a sunrise birding tour, an evening wildlife boat tour, a ride on an aerial tram that provides a treetop view of the rain forest, a hike up a trail used by the conquistadors, sports fishing on Lake Gatún and kayaking on the Chagres. Most of these excursions cost at least $50 for an adult, which can quickly add up.
The resort is built in an area that was once the headquarters for the canal’s dredging operations. The old buildings, built in the 1930′s and once used for the American staff, have been converted into apartments, 45 one-bedroom and 20 two-bedrooms. These were largely empty when we were there, giving the whole place a strange aura of an abandoned colonial plantation.
The canal itself is perhaps the most intriguing, and certainly a unique, part of any visit to Panama. Leaving aside the awesome engineering feat and the sight of container ships the size of a midtown Manhattan block, a journey through the old zone — once off limits to ordinary Panamanians — is an excursion into a part of United States history that many of us have forgotten.
Island and mainland havens
To call Panama, dial 011, then the 507 country code.
Contadora
The island is an 18-minute plane ride from the Marcos A. Gelabert Airport in Panama City on either Las Perlas Airlines, (507) 315-7500 in Panama City, (507) 250-4026 on Contadora, or Aviatur, (507) 315-0311 in Panama City, (507) 250-4192 on Contadora. Island information: www.isla-contadora.com.
At the Hotel Punta Galeon, (507) 214-3719, fax (507) 214-3721, www.puntagaleon.com, a double is $127 a night, plus 10 percent tax.
Villa Romántica, (507) 250-4067, www
.contadora-villa-romantica.com, offers six air-conditioned rooms on the sea; at the restaurant, guests are invited to cook for themselves on hot stones or in fondue pots. Rooms range from $80 to $100.
Restaurant Gerald’s, on a hill above the Hotel Contadora; (507) 250-4061. A meal for two, with wine, costs approximately $40.
Gamboa
At the Gamboa Rainforest Resort, (507) 314-9000, fax (507) 214-1694; www.gamboa resort.com, a double costs $175 plus tax,
but there are a number of package deals that include transportation from the airport, excursions or treatment at the in-house
spa.
The drive from the Tocumen International Airport takes about an hour.
Email us at The Panama Club
+507-836-6542 / 43 (Panama) | 1-(305)-503-9957 (USA)
2007 Special Early Opening Date: First of July (and not the 15th)
Between jungle and sea, Al Natural Resort has created for you a comfortable and private retreat, perfectly integrated into the lush tropical environment.
The resort elegantly combines the ancestral craftsmanship of the Ngobe-bugle indians with new technologies that allow us to harvest energy from the sun and limit our impact on the ecosystem.
The Bungalows
In order to provide each guest with maximum privacy, it is our goal to maintain an intimate scale for the resort, Al Natural is offering only six exclusive eco-bungalows, they are all on the beach with direct view to the water.
All the bungalows are stilt houses and provide occupants with uninterrupted views of the sea and surrounding flora and fauna. There are four levels of accommodation: Natural House, Superior Natural House, Two Story Superior Natural House and Three Bedroom Hexagonal Natural House.
Each NATURAL HOUSE is unique, and compose of a terrace, a complete private tiled bathroom with hot water shower, good lighting powered by a 12 volt solar powered electrical system, and one or two orthopedic Queen size beds with a custom made mosquitoes netting. Each bungalow is equipped with relax chairs, coffee table and a hammock. There are three Natural Houses to choose from: one NATURAL HOUSE, with one Queen size bed, one TWO STORY NATURAL HOUSE, with one orthopedic Queen size bed on each floor, (Please note that, in the upper room, fits just the Queen size bed and that the stairs to go up are a little bit steep), and one HEXAGONAL NATURAL HOUSE, with three separate bedrooms, two master bedrooms, with one Queen size bed in each, and one bedroom with two single beds or another kind size bed.
Each SUPERIOR NATURAL HOUSE provides the same comfort in a larger space with one or two orthopedic king size bed, one or two additional single beds, a wooden lounge chair, and a very efficient ceiling fan. We are offering two SUPERIORS NATURAL HOUSES, with one large bedroom with one king size bed and one or two single beds in each, and one TWO STORY SUPERIOR NATURAL HOUSE, with the master bedroom upstairs with an elevated kind size bed, and another separate bedroom, with two single beds or another king size bed, next to the bathroom downstairs.
TRAVEL INFORMATION
Many airlines fly to Tocumen International Airport (Panama City).
Flights to Bocas del Toro depart from the domestic airport Albrook, in Panama City.
Aeroperlas and Mapiex Aero operates a one-hour direct flights daily ($ 100.00 round trip).
Land travel alternative: buses operate between the cities of Panama and San José (Costa Rica) with the port of Almirante.
Confortable and fast water taxis connect the port of Almirante to Bocas del Toro, at Colon Island.
Reservations with Aeroperlas can be made at www.aeroperlas.com. We can recommend to you accommodations in Panama City.
OTHER INFORMATIONS
Languages: spanish and english
Currency: the Balboa has equivalent value to the American Dollar. The only paper currency in use is the American Dollar.
Electricity: 110 volts
Vaccination: None obligatory
Tropical climate: The weather is warm all year round (yearly average temperature 27°C/82°F).
The driest months are February, March, September and October.
The rainiest months are May, July, November and December.
Panama is outside of the hurricane belt.
Contact
(507) 6640-6935
alna...@cwpanama.net
Email us at The Panama Club
+507-836-6542 / 43 (Panama) | 1-(305)-503-9957 (USA)
PANAMA CITY, Panama — Known for its famed waterway, Panama’s capital boasts more than just a spot to watch the ships cross through the engineering marvel.
Visitors can chose between a swim in the Pacific or the Caribbean, hear tales of pirates looting the city’s original site, find bargain shopping, sample tropical fruits and try their luck at the horse races in Panama City.
OUTDOORS
Head to the Amador Causeway and snap photos of Panama’s downtown or the Bridge of the Americas, where traffic crosses over while ships cruise through the canal. Once part of the off-limits Canal Zone guarded by the U.S. military, the causeway has become a favorite of locals and tourists. The thin strip surrounded by the ocean houses duty-free shops, restaurants, hotels and dance clubs. Construction signs and sites make it evident that there’s more on the way. Kiosks sell hammocks, guayaberas, hats and molas, brightly colored fabrics with elaborate, hand-sewn designs of the Kuna Indian tribe.
By day, twentysomethings and families catch the cool of the ocean breeze while biking, in-line skating, or jogging along the causeway. It’s a strenuous and humid walk, so renting multiseat bikes at the stretch’s entrance works best.
For a day of diving, snorkeling and other water sports, head for Taboga Island, on the Pacific coast. Ferries bound for Isla Taboga leave from a Balboa pier and the causeway each morning and return in the late afternoon.
MUSEUMS
Check out any of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute’s stations. Visit one of the island sites, such as the Barro Colorado Field Research Station, for a boat ride across the canal’s Gatun Lake and a chance to see a half-dozen native monkey species in their natural setting.
At the Marine Exhibition Center in Punta Culebra, view sloths, pelicans and other tropical forest-dwellers along with an unfettered view of the ships crossing and the rhythmic pounding of waves crashing on jagged rocks. Both kids and adults will be mesmerized watching the crab-eating shark and hearing the boas slithering in the dry forest walk within the park.
CUISINE
For breakfast, sip a frothy cafe con leche, made with locally grown coffee beans, or cinnamon tea. Beer connoisseurs should look for local brews Soberana, Balboa and Atlas, which have a light taste that’s thirst-quenching in the sticky climate.
Pencas offers a view of the ocean and authentic Panamanian cuisine, which is inexpensive even at many upscale eateries. On the restaurant’s menu are minitamales wrapped in plantain leaves, pesada de nance (a cereal-textured fruit dessert with bits of white cheese), dorado en salsa de coco (fish in coconut sauce) and ojaldas (a fried bread). On Wednesday nights, Pencas features a troupe of foot-shuffling folk dancers and a live band complete with accordion. As the show wraps up, dancers and some of the servers extend their hands for a dance with audience members. When I told our waiter that I didn’t know the steps, he turned to my mom and asked “Does the lady dance?”
HISTORY
History buffs should explore the remnants of Panama’s colonial past to learn about its history in the quest for riches in the Americas. Just a cab away from most points in the capital city is Panama la Vieja. In 1671, Panama la Vieja was sacked by pirates, led by Sir Henry Morgan. Red-brick streets, a cathedral spire and crumbling walls, arches and buildings of the Spanish settlement era remain.
Guided tours telling of the colony’s former grandeur and demise are available.
Some miles away is the Casco Viejo, an old colonial neighborhood with narrow streets and pastel-colored buildings in the midst of renovation. Its architecture resembles New Orleans’ French Quarter.
Just like locals have for centuries, watch the sunset from the Paseo de las Bovedas, a sea walk along an old Spanish military fort that served as a prison. Other sites include the Catedral Metropolitana, El Teatro Nacional and the unguarded Church of the Golden Altar. Several restaurants and cafes also dot the neighborhood.
GAMBLING
Place a bet on the horse races at the Hipodromo Presidente Jose A. Remon on a Thursday afternoon and mingle with locals and visitors. The horseracing park also is open weekends and holidays.
More than a half-dozen other casinos also offer all night games of chance in Panama. Among the favorite spots is the casino at the Hotel Panama.
NIGHT LIFE
Hit the causeway or the city’s financial district for some dancing, dining and drinking.
ELSEWHERE
Panama City also connects travelers by plane, bus or boat to other provinces. You can spot large green plantain leaves and dozens of noni plants heading out of the capital city. If you roll down the car windows while driving through heavily forested areas, you might hear the monkeys shrieking.
- The province of Colon is where gold and silver from the Americas passed before being transported to Europe. Explore the cannons and the lush green Spanish fortress in Portobelo.
Bocas del Toro offers scuba diving and national parks for trekking.
- Baru volcano is Panama’s highest point at 11,408 feet. Close by is the alpine town of Boquete, in the province of Chiriqui.
IF YOU GO:
Panama
PANAMA TOURISM
INSTITUTE: www.visitpanama.com or (011) (507) 226-7000.
SMITHSONIAN
TROPICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE MARINE
EXHIBITION CENTER: www.stri.org. Adults, $2; retirees, $1; children, 50 cents.
PENCAS RESTAURANT: Amador Causeway, (011) (507) 211-3671.
HIPODROMO
PRESIDENTE JOSE A. REMON RACING PARK: www.hipodromo.com/general (in Spanish) or (011) (507) 217-6060.
SAFETY: Panama is relatively safe, but be aware and don’t venture into some neighborhoods at night. The country has a special police force to help tourists.
DRIVING: Driving within the city can be erratic and some areas have few traffic signs or lights.
TAXIS: Taxis looking for a fare usually honk. Wave to flag them down and settle on price before taking trips.
Copyright CHICAGO SUN-TIMES 2005
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.
http://www.suntimes.com
Email us at The Panama Club
+507-836-6542 / 43 (Panama) | 1-(305)-503-9957 (USA)
”Where are you staying? La Veranda?” asked the woman at the counter, in an English that had a heavy West Indian accent. ”Well that’s right over there,”
She pointed out a blue house, just on the other side of the small dirt runway, and I headed that way. The rain, and the urgency of settling into a dry place with my gear, had distracted me so much that it took me another 20 paces for it to register — I’d just had a conversation in English (West Indian-style) in Panama.
The Bocas del Toro Archipelago, on the Caribbean coast of western Panama, is a tiny enclave of English-speaking Afro-Antilleans in a Spanish country. History, politics and labor migrations have created a handful of these colonias, as they’re called, all along Central America’s east coast — Nicaragua and Honduras, for example, have the Garifunas, and there are Afro-West Indian communities in Limón, Costa Rica; Colón, Panama, and on the tiny Colombian islands of San Andrés and Providencia.
The colonia in Bocas Town, on Colón Island, came about because the United Fruit Company built a headquarters here around the turn of the century. The company hired Caribbean migrants, mainly from Jamaica, to work banana plantations. When United Fruit moved to the Panamanian mainland some years later, the Caribbean workers stayed on the islands, settling in to fish, farm and trade.
More than 100 years later, Bocas Town still feels like an abandoned company outpost. Walking quickly along dirt streets, I noticed that the houses were mostly wooden two-story cottages with identical silhouettes: wide porches; framed, shuttered windows; and, occasionally, wood gingerbread trim. Many appeared on the verge of collapse, others were well-maintained and boldly painted — red with green, yellow with blue. Laughter, music (gospel and B. B. King), and the sputter of old car engines being tinkered with drifted through the air — the sounds of Saturday on any small Caribbean island.
While I was intrigued by Bocas’s unusual past, I had other reasons for including it in my trip to Panama last January. With 9 islands, 51 keys and more than 200 islets spread across the lagoon of Chiriquí, the Bocas del Toro Archipelago is like a mini-Caribbean off Panama’s coast. But it gets a fraction of the Caribbean’s tourist traffic, and there are no resorts or big hotels on the islands, only small inexpensive guest houses. A national marine park in the lagoon, on the nearby island of Bastimentos, protects the archipelago’s nearly pristine reef for snorkelers and divers.
Shivering under a thin blanket on my last night in Panama’s mountains, I dreamed about swimming in blue-green waters, lying on empty beaches and snorkeling with the equipment I’d lugged from New York.
Bocas Town, the provincial capital on Colón, the archipelago’s main island, didn’t have much of a beach (the public beach there fronts on the ominously named Bahia Sand Fly), but it is where most travelers go because of its central location. From there I could rent little boats to take me on short day trips to the marine park, 20 minutes away, and to uninhabited islands.
By the time I reached La Veranda guest house, the rain had slacked to a gentle drizzle. I’d found La Veranda in a roundabout way. When I called a nearby guest house, Cocomo on the Sea, it was full. I asked the friendly sounding American owner if she could recommend something, and she suggested La Veranda, which wasn’t in either of my guidebooks (both had been published before it opened two years ago). I liked the name, picturing a house with a big, cozy porch. On this instinct alone, I called the day before I arrived in Bocas Town and booked a single with bath for $25.
Not knowing what to expect, I realized after I walked up the old wooden stairs to the big second-story porch that I’d stumbled upon a rare find — a cheap guest house with terrific style. Heather Guidi, a former nurse from British Columbia who bought and restored the house, had turned it into a funky Caribbean fantasy of blue, yellow, purple and sea-green walls, original wood plank floors, ceiling fans and gingerbread trim. In my room were many things that pleased me — thrift shop mirrors, a billowy white mosquito net, handmade chairs painted turquoise, and, beside the queen bed, a lamp that made me laugh with its shade speckled with tiny sea shells.
The large veranda had an antique sofa and comfy wicker chairs with batik cushions. There was a kitchen at one end, with a big refrigerator, a stove and a sink. ”You’re welcome to use it,” Heather said, and told me the grocery was two blocks away.
Lounging on the couch and chairs were three of my fellow guests, two blond crewcut men, and an earnest blond woman, in their 20′s. One young man was working on a computer, the second was cleaning the sink; the woman was reading the Bible. They were freelance missionaries from Colorado, on a break between projects in Central America.
I found this out because shortly after I unpacked, the rain came back, this time in exuberant waves, sheet after tropical sheet. There was little to do but sit on the veranda, chat and wait for a break in the clouds. A brief one did come, and I ran down the street to the grocery store, the ”Epicenter of Savings,” for coffee, milk, water, bread and cheese. On my way back, drops began to trickle down again. I scurried up the stairs as thunder began to roll.
It was not the rainy season, Heather said. In fact, it was the time of year that is supposed to have the lightest rainfall. This made me hopeful that tomorrow would be sunny. My mood lifted, and when the missionaries invited me out for a beer, I joined them.
The next morning, the sky was gray, but there were some breaks in the clouds that encouraged optimism. After fixing coffee and eating some fruit, I walked down Bocas Town’s main road to the town center in about 10 minutes. Along the harbor was a road lined with fishermen’s bars, dive shops and places that arranged boat excursions. I got as far as asking about a snorkel expedition when the gray clouds turned black again, and I headed back to the guest house pronto.
But the rain caught me in the middle of Calle 3, Bocas Town’s main street. I jumped onto a creaky wooden porch where an elderly man sat silently, watching the nearly-empty street. He’d caught my eye because his house listed about 30 degrees to the left and appeared to be only moments from collapse, and because he looked like a member of the Buena Vista Social Club, distinguished in a starched white guayabera. In an Afro-Antillean town, the man stood out, a reminder of Hispanic Panama.
His name was Don Mario, and when I introduced myself, he immediately got up and went back into his house. I heard some scraping and banging, and he emerged holding an old steel folding chair.
Rain pounded, I sat, and Don Mario entertained me with episodes from his 83 years, beginning with the time he ran off, in his 20′s, to Havana. ”Oh, mi amiguita, what a time it was!” he said, his eyes clouding wistfully. ”I danced in the clubs, I heard all the great musicians, saw the great comedians — it was the best time of my life.” More stories emerged, of his travels around South America on a merchant marine vessel, his adventures in Panama City during World War II. He did not explain in detail how he’d ended up as a tailor in Bocas Town, but I did find out what made his house tipsy: an earthquake in Bocas about 10 years ago. In any event, explained Don Mario, it would be torn down soon, for, like many Bocas old-timers, he was selling his property to an investor who would probably put up a little hotel, or a restaurant, to join the others now popping up along Calle 3.
After my conversation with Don Mario, I drifted along the main street, noticing now how tourism was reshaping the sleepy little backwater. There were three or four restaurants with Italian names and owners, and the clatter of hammers announced renovation and new construction. Over a terrific, simple lunch of fish and rice at Restaurante Kuna, run by Kuna Indians from eastern Panama, I overheard Latin men with mustaches speaking rapidly into cell phones, while their gringo lunch companions questioned them, in bad but enthusiastic Spanish, about real estate opportunities.
I realized I’d arrived in Bocas Town at that pause before the tourism machinery kicks in, before the friendly smiles of the locals turn into professional grins (or irritated masks). Suddenly, I didn’t really care if I ever used that snorkel here.
The rains continued to pass over La Veranda. Between downpours, I walked in the neighborhood, met the neighbors and explored the little piers that jutted out from the light brown crescent-shaped beach opposite Sand Fly Bay (which, happily, didn’t live up to its name). On one old wooden pier, a group of children sang me Spanish pop songs, spoke to me in the local English patois, and showed me how to fish with a plastic line.
And then, one afternoon, the sun appeared, and I ran down to the central docks. Suddenly, everything was in color: green sea, blue sky, little red and white boats. It was now or never — I hired a small boat (a bote) to ferry me across the bay to Isla Bastimentos (for $1), the next largest island in the archipelago, and home to an Afro-Antillean community that was preparing for a big carnival. (I had been eagerly reading the posters that announced the parades.)
In a tiny wooden vessel that had been carved, Indian style, from a single piece of wood, I set out with two boatmen, one talkative, the other strangely silent. Suddenly, about five minutes out to sea, the wind kicked up, sending the little craft slamming down with a loud thump. The silent boatman didn’t even flinch.
”Don’t worry,” said the chatty boatman. ”He’s deaf.”
”Deaf?”
”He can’t speak, either. We’re a team — he drives, and I talk.”
We put in at Isla Bastimentos, and I noticed there weren’t any other taxi boats. So I asked the partner to wait while I explored the island for around 30 minutes. I offered him an extra dollar, and he said O.K. Seconds after I turned my back, I heard the motor sputtering; the boat turned around and sped across the bay back to town.
Isla Bastimentos has one main street, about a half-mile long. At one end, women were playing drums and chanting and clapping carnival songs. At the other was an open-air bar jutting into the harbor. It was old and funky, with missing floorboards and a strong smell of rum and sea salt. Only after I walked in did I notice that the only other woman in the place was the bartender.
Soca music pounded and echoed across the empty dance floor, and so did my heart. Was I stranded? Had I taken enough cash in case I had to spend the night? Worst of all, the sky was turning into a gray soup again. My face must have telegraphed my panic because moments later, one fisherman had bought me a beer and another had gone to look for his neighbor. ”Yuh no worry,” said the neighbor in patois, ”I can take you back in my boat.”
The rain held off until just before we pulled into Bocas Town harbor. Then the sky burst, all at once, and the showers came down, thick, warm and comforting.
The bottom line: an island enclave
I spent $38.62 a day on food, hotel and transport during four days and nights in Bocas del Toro. Prices are in United States dollars, which are widely used in Panama. The international dialing code for Panama is 507.
Transportation
From David, in southwestern Panama, I flew to Bocas del Toro for $24. My flight back to Panama City cost $49.35. Both were on Aeroperlas, Panama’s main domestic airline; (507) 757 9341, on the Web at www.aeroperlas.com.
My guest house, La Veranda, was a five-minute walk from the airport. Water taxis, which leave from the main dock by the harbor, charge about $1 for the 15-minute ride to Isla Bastimentos. Boat owners congregate at the pier, offering various excursions; I would have gone on a four-hour snorkel trip to nearby Hospital Point if it had ever stopped raining. The price I negotiated was $8.
Street addresses are not commonly used in tiny Bocas Town; the streets, arranged in a grid, have numbers or letters. Most hotels and restaurants are on or near Calle 3, the main drag, which can be walked from end to end in 15 minutes. The airport is near the center of town.
Places to Stay
The four-room Veranda guest house, telephone and fax (507) 757 9211, www.laverandahotel.com, had a sense of personal style that is rare in budget lodgings. Rates are now $35 a night, but my large room cost $25 a night and had its own bathroom with a shower, a queen bed, and lots of shelves and pegs for hanging and storage. La Veranda doesn’t serve breakfast, but the guest rooms open to a large, airy veranda with couches, a dining table, chairs and a communal kitchen. Perhaps the only drawback is that it is two blocks away from the sea (guests have access to the hotel’s swimming dock).
If a sea view is a priority, I’d recommend the nearby Cocomo on the Sea guest house, (507) 757 9259, www.panamainfo.com/cocomo, a more upscale, more conventional place with an inviting deck overlooking the water, and four rooms, which I couldn’t inspect because they were full when I visited. Rooms cost around $50, with breakfast.
A budget standby is Las Brisas Botel, (507) 757 9248, where a rather drab, dingy room without windows is about $25 a night. The draw of the place is its spacious breezy deck overlooking the water.
Where to Eat
La Ballena, (507) 757 9089, is an Italian-owned restaurant on Avenida E one block off Calle 3. It’s upscale for Bocas Town — dinner entrees are $9 to $12 — but the portions are huge. My meal of tomato and mozzarella salad, followed by spaghetti with octopus sauce, could have fed two. The bill was $18 with a glass of surprisingly good house wine.
Kuna is an unpretentious restaurant across from Las Brisas Botel. Seafood dinner entrees (around $7) are served on a wide, breezy porch overlooking the main street. I had very good shrimp and calamari in garlic sauce, and returned the next night for grilled red snapper. There is no phone. DAISANN McLANE
Email us at The Panama Club
+507-836-6542 / 43 (Panama) | 1-(305)-503-9957 (USA)
